Remember the stranger at the airport started his laptop, and, just by its start-up music you knew he was using Windows XP? And, how your son felt super excited just by the racing sounds of Ferrari Cars that were played in the background at Ferrari World? No wonder he just couldn’t get enough of the rides! And then, that Titan advertisement with its iconic background score. How it compelled your wife to go and check out the latest at its showroom even though she already owns dozens of wrist watches! – What’s common in all these three instances?

The answer is music. The sound. The rhythm. The consumers, if you notice, are majorly influenced by the Audio Branding of a particular product. A product that impresses their ears leaves a mark on their minds too. That simple!

“What exactly is Audio Branding?”

Audio Branding is strategically designed and customized sound/music for a product; engineered keeping the brand’s values, essence and projection in mind. (Ambiance music, sound logo, a company’s welcome music, audio commercials etc for example.) It contributes in generating a brand’s distinct identity, development and management. It works as an audio mascot you can say, penetrating through both an emotional as well as a logical mind! That makes it remarkably versatile. Give it a shot to taste its might, we say!

“Why MUST I go for it?”

Well, for quite a number of reasons:

It increases your sales!

Customers opine that when they are in a store with an appropriate music being played in the background, they feel happier and that makes them all pepped up to shop! It also makes them remain in the store for longer! Did you know McDonald’s speeds up its in-store music at lunch time to increase its customer turn around?

It increases your brand recognition and makes you popular.

A well made audio piece gets attached to your brand’s identity in the consumer’s mind. Human mind has a strong memory recall for music. Remember how effortlessly you identified that the fellow next to you was using a Window XP just by hearing a few of its notes?

It increases your staff’s productivity.

Researches show that contrary to the noise, the employees can focus better when there’s a carefully designed music being played. It also makes the employees, and, the employees and the company bond better. This may result in to heightened motivation and team spirit, which in turn gets manifested as increased productivity.

It makes you stand out from the crowd quite uniquely!

Customized Audio Branding increases your chances of getting noticed and remembered by multifold. It gives you a distinct place in your consumer’s mind that makes him differentiate your from your rivals. Remember how the memory of Britannia’s sound logo (Ting Ting Ti Ding) made it stand out to you from the rest of the lot at the supermarket?

Audio Branding by ENSO – the latest feather in our hat!

In our bid to serve our clients with the best and the latest in the market, ENSO Films is more than thrilled to include Audio Branding in its service kit. Here are some of the trendiest and most effective audio branding solutions on offer :

Sound Logo :

It is an acoustic match of your visual logo (the music that you hear with Intel’s logo, or, Nokia’s iconic melody for example). It is a memorable, multifunctional and distinct sound piece that we design by keeping your brand character, projection and essence in mind.

In-store music :

We engineer customized ambiance music, festive tunes and purpose-appropriate music for you to play in your store. Researches show that these audio pieces actually increase your sales as 84% of shoppers are likely to purchase from shops that play in-store music! Also, it encourages the customer by 63% to spend longer time in your store! It augments your customer retention by 55%. And, a massive 90% of your customers tend to recommend your store to others! Now, isn’t that super impressive?

Company Welcome Tunes for Phone Calls :

We craft out voice messages for you so that when your client calls you up, instead of hearing the mundane phone ring, he hears a message that talks about your company’s services and guidelines.

Audio Commercial :

30 to 45 seconds long audio advertisement for your product which can be used across different platforms. For example, it can be aired on a radio, sent on whatsapp, uploaded on social media etc.

Big dreams. Big ventures. Big stakes. Already having too much on your plate as a business owner? We think yes. After all, creating a profitable and long lasting brand will require you to be on your toes. Won’t it? Labour of love, you can say. Worth every bit of it. But, while you are busy doing all of that, won’t you need somebody who handles the home front? Somebody who will do the basic alignment of your brand as carefully as you would do if you had time and the field knowledge of branding and advertising? Well, now is the time to bring in the brand consultant.

Hiring for the RIGHT wiring : 5 reasons to get a brand consultant on board

1. Saves your time

Be it a small, mid or large sized business; almost all the businessmen that we have known have struggled to find time to do their marketing. And that’s so obvious. Running a business is like running a small country on your own! Number of decisions to be made, plenty of people to be dealt with and making it sure that you survive in the competition! Phew! When you hire a brand consultant, he/she taking off the marketing and branding burden off your shoulders comes as a great relief. They offer a consistent handling of the task and that saves you time which you can invest somewhere else.

2. Offers you professional skill set, cutting-edge field knowledge and foresight

With hiring of a professional branding consultant/agency comes the whole world of sharp, up-to-date and result oriented skill set to your kitty. And by being professionals that they are, they also have the foresight to see beyond what a brand owner can see for his own company. Putting all of this together, integrating everything about a business and developing a brand out of it comes quite naturally to them.

“To show you what a striking difference a brand consultant can make, let me give you an example of one of our clients ‘The Vasant Group’ – a group of six companies involved in 6 different businesses. There are always challenges that successful people face as they climb up on the ladder of growth, you know. In spite of being a successful business house, The Vasant Group’s challenge lied in being unable to get fused together as a whole. Alignment of the vision is one of the biggest challenges any CEO or management faces with the staff in second and third line. What ENSO did for Vasant Group was to integrate all their six companies together by keeping their individualities intact, and yet, unifying them in such a way that they emerged as one brand ‘Vasant Group’. What we did as a brand consultant for these clients, was going in to the deepest details of their functioning, streamlining and standardizing them at the base with utter perfection and customized branding solutions, and, giving them the outlook keeping years ahead in mind. That’s skills, knowledge and foresight coming together for you” explains Ms Neeja Shah, owner and CEO at ENSO.

“At the end of it all, the company owners could see a major upward growth in the way they were perceived by their clients as well as their peers” she says.

3. Saves your money (Surprise! Surprise!)

Yes, you read it right! By putting an end to your random marketing and advertising trial-&-error saga, a brand consultant saves your money that you often end up wasting on infertile commercial gimmicks. “Penny wise and pound foolish! That’s seldom the scenario. A brand consultant, on the other hand, operates on a specific strategy that he/she has customized by keeping your progress in mind. That gets you the maximum ROI. Spending after a brand consultant is actually an investment in your own business” opines Neeja.

4. Defines, develops and decides the direction for your brand

Unorganized ways of functioning can strangle your chances of success in spite of you having all the potential for it. “You can easily fight this problem when you have a branding consultant by your side. He/she shapes your brand in a holistic, significant and unifying way; to put it very simply. He/she creates that basic platform and perception for your brand because of which everything else that you do for your business will yield the maximum results. Taking you way beyond your in-house graphic designing or basic advertising, a brand consultant is here to help your brand with much more vital things. Vision, direction, strategic execution etc – just to name a few.” points out Neeja.

For a variety of reasons, the business owners often don’t happen to identify their consumers correctly. Also, they don’t have the clarity about what exactly their consumers expect out of their brand at times. “This ambiguity at the base can hamper your way and can leave you drained out in spite of all your hard work. At this point, a branding consultant can be a saviour as he/she has the skills and methods to chart out the accurate market demography for your business. And then on, an effective market strategy is articulated” says Neeja. The right step in the right direction marks the beginning of a success story. Doesn’t it?

ENSOism

A successful venture has its own set of ingredients. An effective way of branding is one of them, goes without saying. “Anything that is done randomly in today’s time and date is generally proven to be ineffective as far as business is concerned. Anything done with limited knowledge and half attention wont’ get you very far either. It is about bringing the art of branding and the science of business operations together without getting affected by unnecessary influences; something that a brand consultant is professionally crafted for. The sooner you hire a brand consultant, the better!” concludes Neeja.

“COMPETITOR is one who can steal a few deals, but,

the pinch of which, a VISIONARY never feels!”

…as simple as that! Welcome to the era of gutsy new-age trendsetters. They know that if they have what it takes, they have the power to redefine the word ‘competition’ on their own terms. With immense confidence in their vision and capacity, comes their strength to question the market competition itself– “Is it good enough to deserve my participation?” Now that’s a contemporary visionary talking.

Fathoming the Formula

So how does this visionary or the trendsetter manage to find his niche somewhere away from the general mass? What are the dynamics of this modern market scenario where the main stream competition may not actually be the competition for some? Read on as #ensoblogger gets in to a tête-à-tête with Ms. Neeja Shah, owner and CEO at ENSO.

First thing first – know thyself!

In a market where a lot of people claim to be a lot of special things and terms like ‘advertising’ and ‘branding’ are very loosely used; you can stand out tall only if you have a unique and authentic identity of your own. “And that begins with the correct assessment and solid establishment of your own passion, vision and ways of approaching your goals.” says Ms Shah as we get on with our conversation.

“Figure out your own takes on various aspects, set your own standards and decide your own direction first. Once that is established, you can make a comparison between you and your general market. Do you see some discrepancy between the mass mentality of the market and your own approach and belief system? If yes, then well! It’s time to take a stand!” she says. Step numero uno in becoming a trendsetter.

Giving a well-calculated miss to being a part of ‘the league’

Majority doesn’t always mean that it’s the only right way of doing it. “Following the majority can often work as a trap in today’s time. The market is so vivid, vast and fast growing that whoever spots the next need of the consumer first; wins the game. In that case, not keeping your eye on the changing requirement of the world and just going with what the so called larger league is going by for all this while, can cost you an opportunity of a life time”, says Ms Shah.

As they say, only the dead fish go with the flow. And, the main stream may not always be the best stream to swim in. Ponder over this – should you let the market define you, or, should you be the one who defines the market?

The curious case of ‘competition’!

The relevance and the context of competition can’t be the same for all. “Do you want volumes or do you want to penetrate in to a unique segment? Do you want branding done for you or do you just want weekly sales targets to be achieved? Do you want to be just a part of the ‘herd’ or do you want to be the ‘shepherd’ who leads it? These are a few of the questions to which you got to find the answers for yourself first” suggests Ms. Shah. “When you talk about competition, first and foremost, you got to decide what and who you want to compete with. Not a lot of advertising agencies will make you think about this but this is where ENSO is a class apart. And that’s where the point of difference comes in; that, if you want to grow in to a brand, chucking the so called competition and having the patience to work towards your brand building will play a decisive role” she says.

And at this point, the way you should let the doctor do his job, you should let the professional agencies handle your branding and its development. After all, it’s always good leave your company in a pair of safe hands rather than taking unnecessary risk and too much of trial and error on your own.

Exclusivity has its own charm

Today’s is a market where the number of people who seek and admire all things exclusive is increasing like never before. “It is no longer a scene of a whole army of workers working on something that’s run-of-the-mill kinds. It is rather a trend of a handful of experts putting in all their experience, passion and skill to produce things or services which are bespoke. Today’s quality conscious consumer is much more aware and knowledgeable about what he wants out of you. If you offer him all things customized and exclusive, BINGO!” says Ms. Neeja Shah.

ENSOism

It’s time, as we have already mentioned, to redefine the context of competition. “Today’s consumer needs more than what he used to. It’s up to us to spot the need before he does and that’s where the new trend begins from. A trend that is not necessarily dependent on regular market’s competition but gives a birth to a new way of doing things”, explains Ms. Shah. “If you look at the global market, the trendsetters are bypassing the main stream competition quite effortlessly. And that’s exactly what we need to develop here – innovative minds, bespoke services and new trend setting ways of doing our businesses with a lot more finesse. Let’s get rolling!” she says as she wraps up the conversation.

So, what’s your general understanding of the term ‘Corporate Culture’? It must be on the lines of – something that describes and directs the ways a company’s owners and employees think, feel and act; right? In short, with the term ‘Corporate Culture’, your perception is associated with the professionalism of a brand. The professionalism that is generated at the top and runs down to everything about a brand, its services and functioning. After all, that’s what makes a brand what it aims to be.

Well, what we just mentioned is an *ideal* scenario of genuine corporatism. However, what is in parallel existence is something ENSO terms as ‘Pseudo Corporatism’. Yes, you read it right. Pseudo Corporatism – the pretence of being a corporate enterprise with modern looking infrastructure and smart sounding staff on the surface, but, what lies beneath is a hollow and unstructured work environment.

A quick peek in to this neo-age farce

“I see it around so very often! It is disappointing, damaging and ridiculous– all at the same time.” – says Ms. Neeja Shah, owner and CEO at ENSO; as she talks about her experiences with Pseudo Corporatism.

Where’s the vision?!

A truly corporate enterprise builds its foundation on a clear, well-thought after and purposeful vision. This gives a definite direction to the business which is vital for multiple reasons. Absence of this vision can gradually turn a venture in to a headless chicken – scattered, confused and often suicidal!

“People today have great ambitions, beautiful looking offices and inspirations drawn from all over the world. And it is all quite appreciable.” affirms Ms. Shah. “However, what is neglected many times is this clear and well calculated vision on the part of the business owners. When there is no vision, what will you align your brand or business with for the longer run?” There you go – the first pitfall of getting indulged in to pseudo corporatism!

What about the core values?

Defining the core values of a company gives its team a set of guidelines about behaviours and mindsets. That, in turn, helps them achieve their company’s vision. “Unfortunately, many of the companies today do not give due importance to defining their core values. What happens as a result is a damaging disparity between brand promise and brand experience”, opines Ms. Shah. How true is that! Faking the corporatism may look less time consuming, but the damage it does to a brand is fatal and long lasting.

When your actions DON’T speak louder than your words!

A company can talk wonderful, look awesome and can trick the consumer in to believing it. But it all comes down crashing as soon as the consumer doesn’t find your vision and core values translated in to your work and services. “I have seen many ventures taking off on a super glamorous note. Their consumers feeling all excited about their *proud* association with them. But as there is not much of an effort made to convert the promises in to reality, either out of lack of capacity or as a careless underperformance, the consumer feels let down. And I have witnessed how this negative propaganda does faster rounds than the positive ones, which ultimately results in a quick fall out of the customers” a disillusioning observation by Ms. Shah.

The team too has to live up to its brand

The owners, employees and all the other stakeholders of a company are ultimately the face of the brand that they are working for; as far as the true corporate culture is concerned. “In the case of pseudo corporatism, you will often come across some team members who seem to be somewhat of a misfit to the company in one way or the other”, marks out Ms. Shah. “For example, you expect them to function and perform in accordance to their official designation but these employees are often incapable of executing their own jobs effectively! It’s a sad reality of pseudo corporatism resulting out of bad recruitment policies. This starts creating loopholes in the very base of a brand and the hollowness that it generates can make you a poor brand in today’s fiercely competitive commercial world”, she adds.

ENSOism

“Going by my work experience in Dubai, I feel sad to see how our lack of professionalism is keeping the bigger businesses away from us. This short cut of pseudo corporatism is doing no long term good to us, if you ask me”, says Neeja Shah. “We have tremendous potential, great work power and smart business skills. All we need is that finer touch. The commitment towards our own vision, the patience to build up a genuine corporate environment and a strong resentment towards this self-damaging short cut called pseudo corporatism. As soon as we fix this, we are in for a party! The world awaits us”, says Ms. Shah as she signs off.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is as good as magic !

When you can reach out to the world in just a few clicks and can multiply your business without having to get up from your chair much – it IS as good as magic, isn’t it? Welcome to the world of digital marketing – the power of using websites, email, mobile apps, social networks etc for the advancement of your brand. This is business made way easier and faster. Here are a few reasons why you should grab it with both hands!

8 reasons why Digital Marketing has to be your ‘weapon of choice’ !

Gives you a global reach and infinite audience

With the advent of internet and digital marketing, the world has really become flat! Just a few clicks and you are out there on the screens of millions of people through websites, social media platforms, emails, blogs, e-banners, SEO etc. You no longer have to be confined by geographical limits and that in itself is a humongous advantage for your brand.

Saves money

With a properly planned and targeted digital marketing campaign, your brand can reach out to a much larger audience at a much lower cost. Moreover, a digital marketing campaign has a longer shelf life. That also helps you get the best return of the money you have spent over it.

A 24×7 marketing tool

Digital media is one marketing tool that keeps you available to a global audience on a continuous mode. Difference in time zones, working hours, location etc don’t limit your marketing here. This nonstop platform keeps your presence alive and kicking round the clock. Imagine how easily it can intensify your consumer’s awareness about your brand!

Easy and quick

Comparatively speaking, digital marketing takes lesser time in going from planning to execution. It is also easier here to maintain, modify and update the campaign even after it is launched. This makes it a very practical and a modern day marketing channel.

Gives you more space to put your point across

When you are using a website, blog, social media etc for your marketing, you can choose to go elaborated or brief depending upon your requirement. The space that you get here for your brand is generally customizable and there are lesser constraints attached with it. That in turn can give you liberty to tell your story according to your own preferences.

Increased consumer engagement and retention

Many of the digital marketing platforms are personalized and two-way communication channels. Here the consumer can directly interact with you and THAT is a big deal! Through the comments, likes, replies, shares, ratings etc the consumer is unconsciously striking his individual connection with your brand. This builds customer loyalty and a strong online reputation for your brand.

Measurable along with real time results

Digital marketing provides you with clear counts and numbers connected to your consumer’s interest in your business, depending on the platform you are choosing to use. This way you can keep a track of the consumer traffic, improvise your tactic accordingly and work towards the kind of results you want to generate – and all this in a very short span of time.

Can be easily clubbed with other campaigns

Thanks to their flexible, versatile and easily customizable attributes, digital marketing campaigns can be easily attached with your mainstream marketing campaign. In fact, the digital marketing campaign can give a gigantic push to your traditional marketing strategy when the two are clubbed at the right time with perfect execution.

You ought to be a tech-savvy brand!

No matter what your segment, size or way of working is; you really can’t ignore digital marketing. Giving it a pass can result in to you falling backwards in today’s super competitive business arena by many yards. That’s why the team at ENSO takes care of your digital marketing with passion, persistence and expertise. Starting from the conceptualization to execution to launch – we are here to make a massive difference in your business through effective digital campaigning. Let’s get started!

“The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow”

“If a picture says a thousand words about your company,

a moving picture will tell a million.”

You can’t agree more, we bet. After all, one can’t deny the fact that TVCs, company videos, corporate films etc can have an easily generated and longer lasting impact on the consumer’s mind. Not making the most out of these branding tools can be a real blunder, we must say! So, what is so special about these high tech ways of marketing? Why are they so indispensible? Well, here is our take on it.

TVCs – a massive marketing move

When you create a striking TVC (Television Commercial) for your brand, you are sorting out a major chunk of your marketing strategy. With one TVC created, you are multiplying your reach by a thousand folds by using a medium as tremendously popular as television! Can you imagine the power that this medium possesses? Take a look.

It generates a massive awareness about your product in one go

Appeals to your consumer in a unique multi-sensory way through the combination of text, images, sound and motion

Creates a strong recall in the consumer’s mind

Enables you to reach out to your specific target audience through slot systems and selection of preferred geographic areas

Company Videos – staying in sight means staying in minds

Now here is an easy and direct way to put your brand out there in minutes! An audio-visual communication that is meant to talk about your brand/product in a corporate environment. For example, a crisp video of your jewelry business that you play in the lounge of your showroom for an everyday viewing. You can also choose to go for promotional videos, training videos or information videos depending on your purpose. It works well for you in more than one ways :

Sparks interest in the minds of your audience about who you are and how you work

Projects you as a company who is in sync with the latest technology and trend

Can be shared easily and frequently on internet which in turn amplifies awareness about your company

Being multi-functional in nature, they can be used for variety of purposes once made

Corporate Films – tell your tale in an interesting way

Rather than making it all just professional and at times monotonous, you have a choice of making it more attractive with Corporate Films. This is one tool where you can dramatize your business story and present it in a more appealing manner. It can be a part of your marketing strategy for multiple reasons :

It engages your target audience in your product story in a more exciting way

Gives you a competitiveedge above your rivals

Widens your reach by getting shared via multiple other media as well

Can be customized as per your budget, requirement and preferences

ENSO Films – the latest feather in our cap

Having witnessed the crucial role of video marketing in any brand strategy, ENSO has come up with its own film making wing ‘ENSO Films’. Voilà! With this latest addition in our kit, ENSO is now a one-stop solutions hub for all your branding requirements and media planning.

Under ENSO Films, we have a team of professionals and technicians who have worked in media like TV, radio etc. in International Entertainment Channel Networks, FM stations and films. They are trained to deliver a holistic, meticulous and creative work process and execution. This team assists you at creating films according to your budget. They also guide you at choosing the right media mix and a wide range of display platforms like TV, website, electronic billboards, in-house display etc. Making of your promotional films that you can show in theatres, in-house presentations and TVCs meant for either national or local broadcast – all this will also be taken care of under ENSO films with enthusiasm and expertise.

Now, isn’t that what you have been looking for? Come and make most out of it!

“Innovation is the calling card of the future.”

If there is one name that has been revolutionary in the world of furniture for over 70 years, it is IKEA. Being the world’s largest furniture store, IKEA today enjoys the status and reputation of a cult in its domain. An acronym made up of the initials of Ingvar Kamprad (the founder), Elmtaryd (the farm where he grew up) and Agunnaryd (his village in south Sweden); IKEA has taken furniture making way beyond its basic and plain existence. It has turned it in to a unique process of innovation, functionality and an ode to the modern lifestyle. Let us tell you how it all began.

Mr. Ingvar Kamprad, his vision and the emergence of a brand

Showing the signs of entrepreneurship right from the age of 5, Invgar Kamprad found IKEA at the tender age of 17. He began the venture with the reward money he had received from his father for his success at the school! Isn’t that just fantastic for a teenager when the rest of his friends would have been happy going out clubbing with that money?

Initially, Ingvar’s aim was to sell goods by mail orders. Gradually, he began offering furniture produced by local manufacturers. He then started advertising about these furniture products in his brochure called IKEA News. Following the success and growth of the business, Ingvar came up with the first IKEA catalague in the year 1951 where the focus was entirely on furniture and home furnishing products. These IKEA catalogues today have become almost as iconic as their brand itself is.

IKEA catalogues proved to be a great idea for the brand. The business grew beautifully and by the year 1959, Ingvar Kamprad had 100 employees working for his company that he had started as a teenager.

The Turning Points

The arrival of IKEA stores :

By early 1950s, IKEA made a major change in its way of functioning. The culture of doing business by mail order was witnessing a claustrophobic competition. It was deteriorating the overall market experience for both the customers and the business owners. IKEA decided to exit this scene at the right time and decided to create IKEA stores – a permanent and directly accessible space for the customers where they could view the products before purchasing. This overcame the flaws that business by mail order had.

These stores turned IKEA in to an experience for its customers. Here, the customers got to see and touch the affordable and well-made goods in an actual room setting. This idea proved to be both sensational and successful.

FLAT PACKING – an innovative, incredible and ingenious move :

A small problem can give way to a big idea. A consumer who bought one of its wooden tables was finding it difficult to get it in to the car for the transportation. IKEA didn’t let it’s consumer’s issue go unnoticed and instead took revolutionary measures to solve it. They started making furniture which can be unassembled for the transportation purpose and can be assembled later on. Interestingly enough, it also involved the customer in the whole IKEA experience by letting him assemble his furniture on his own. Now, is that not just brilliant?

IKEA – The Furniture Phenomenon

Today, IKEA is more than 70 years old furnishing empire and is still going just as strong. Along with many other things, IKEA is the pioneer of self-serve furniture warehouses. The consumer just has to decide his budget, select furniture, pack and carry it home. That simple! It has 345 stores across the world in 42 countries(and still counting). It has 150,000 co-workers working under it. Its turn-over has reached the total of 29.2 billion Euros. IKEA magazines have now also been converted in to mobile apps and guess the number of its downloads – it’s 9.7 million! It all sounds so surreal, doesn’t it? Well, hard earned success has its own charm. And, at this point, let us whisper this to you one more time – IKEA was all started by a 17 year old boy with his reward money!

A thing or two to learn from IKEA

What IKEA has offered to its fans/consumers is an intense brand experience. The way the IKEA stores, flat-packing and the self-serve furnishing warehouses have generated more of the consumer’s participation in IKEA ethos, it sums up as an outstanding example of brand immersing. Its casual and friendly connect with its buyers has created an absolutely relatable and enjoyable brand essence. No wonder the buyer gets convincingly hooked on to IKEA in the world filled with many other rivals.

ENSOism

There has always been many names out there who made furniture. But, not everybody could become ‘IKEA’. Why? Well, IKEA never lost its grip on its consistency. Be it its unified way of communication, reinventing itself at the right times or keeping the consumer’s convenience in the centre of everything – it has always maintained its brand perception. It has a knack of keeping its consumer engaged with IKEA by a marketing tool as small as the IKEA catalogues to its latest mobile phone apps. It has always been right on the track when it comes to generating a strong brand recall. Changing times did not matter at all! IKEA never missed out on adding value to the brand experience it offers. And, THAT what makes IKEA what it is today.

“What is good for our customers is also, in the long run, good for us.”

Impossible is nothing, seriously!

Picture this. It is the year 1920. Adolf(Adi) Dassler is just another cobbler living in the town of Herzogenaurach, Germany. This young boy, all of just 20, also has a passion for running and extreme sports. Lately, something has been hovering over his mind. It is the need that he has spotted in the sports market for better shoes. The shoes that can enhance a sportsman’s performance and can go beyond functionality. And guess how he decides to deal with this need? With whatever knowledge he has as a trained cobbler, plus his experience as a sportsman and that mixed with his passion to bring about the change – Adi himself starts making sports shoes in his mother’s laundry! Today, the world knows what started as an in-house venture as the global giant ‘Adidas’.

Many can make shoes. But it takes vision and passion to turn them in to ‘Adidas’.

Almost a century back, who would have thought that what Adi was making in his mother’s laundry was going to become a game changer? He wasn’t just making shoes. He was creating a legend. How did that happen? How was he not your regular shoemaker? What did he do so differently than the others that Adidas grew in to a phenomenal brand?

Let’s have a look at what made Adidas, well, Adidas!

Spotting the need and addressing it :

Adi Dassler himself was an ardent sportsman. Along with many other entrepreneurs, he too had spotted the need for a better-performing shoes for the sportsmen. The difference between him and those other entrepreneurs was that Adi not only spotted the need but went that extra mile to address it by making an effort to create those ideal shoes by himself.

Determination to make it work :

Being a path maker is anything but easy. In Adi’s case it was even trickier as starting this sort of a business in Germany soon after the First World War was not a cakewalk. But it was his determination that made him rise above all the difficulties and continue with his endeavour.

Innovating and improvising :

As it was the dark era of post World War I, Adi didn’t have the privilege of availing the ideal material to make his dream shoes. Lack of resources, however, couldn’t bog this tough willed guy down. He tried making shoes out of whatever he could lay his hands on – parachutes, army helmets etc! This outstanding creativity and never-say-die attitude kept his business going. It also indirectly refined Adi’s vision to develop the perfect running shoes.

Making it effective and result oriented :

As smart and focused as he was about his venture, Adi always kept himself in constant contact of many of the world’s best athletes. It made him understand their requirements and enabled him to perfect different shoes for a variety of sports. For example, In 1954, Adidas came out with shoes for the German football team. These shoes had screw-in studs, a first-time feature at that time. This feature made the German players get a strong grip during a match while running on the wet ground on a rainy day. It actually made the German team win against Hungary and these shoes came in limelight all over the world overnight.

Smart, fearless and unique ways of marketing:

Adi was always so confident and proud of his products that marketing them boldly and aggressively came quite naturally to him. By 1936, majority of the German athletes used to wear Adidas. This also made Adi realize that athletes themselves were the best advertisements for the products. In fact, Adidas marked the beginning of the concept of sports promotion and endorsement that exists today.

Expansion :

By the time Adi passed away in the year 1978, Adidas had 700 patents and other industrial property rights under its umbrella. It had also pushed boundaries of its reign by its global expansion in to new product lines like leisure and clothing sector, apparels, sports accessories etc.

A thing or two to learn from Adidas

What kept Adidas a consistent brand was the clarity of vision of the owner as well as the alignment of the product with his vision. The basic idea behind the product that the shoes should protect the athletes from injury and that they should last; created such a pioneering brand promise in those times that it changed the consumer’s perception forever. The credit of inventing something as revolutionary as brand endorsement also goes to Adidas.

ENSOism

When you have vision, vigour and the right product; all you need is that determined push to widen your reach. A wider reach that you so aptly deserve. Your product can be that one thing that refines the way the world lives. What follows after that is an eternal glory. Ask Adi if you don’t believe us!

How about shining even brighter?

Evolution can often be optional. Like, in a business you can either choose to remain a commodity and can be quite a good one undoubtedly. Or, you can choose to turn it into a brand sometime down the line when you are ready for it. One question that seem to puzzle a lot of people today is that, if they are doing fine remaining a commodity, do they really need to go that extra mile and turn themselves in to a brand? Yes, definitely – if you ask us. Let us tell you the why part of it.

Remaining a Commodity can cost you more than you realize!

Being a commodity may feel like living happily within your comfort zone and sailing through tested waters. But, it also means that you are still putting up with some hidden strains and drawbacks attached to it on an everyday basis. Like,

By being a commodity type of a business, you generally don’t have a say in the market simply because you don’t have the monopoly. It rips you off the power to negotiate or to have an upper hand.

Dealing with the current scene of inflation becomes even more difficult for you as you can’t just reduce or raise the price of your product due to a huge number of competitors lurking around. One slip from your side and they will snatch your business away.

India is typically and predominantly owned by unorganized retailers. Take the example of apparel shops, grocery stores, barber shops etc in your vicinity. An average Indian has the mentality of going to these around-the-corner outlets for his day to day requirements. But when it comes to valuing an experience, he will always fondly talk about the sophisticated services he gets at the salon which is a part of a chain across the nation, or the fashion label that makes him look special in an authentic way or the branded grocery store where quality is a sure shot. That time he chooses to praise the brands that he has experienced and not the commodity he has often opted for. So the point is, by continuing to be a commodity and an unorganized retailer, you are risking to remain faceless and not-so-valued in the consumer’s mind.

Perks of evolving in to a Brand

The coolest thing about evolving your commodity business in to a brand is that you earn a certain level of trust and personal equation with your consumer. And that gradually gets translated in to the consumer’s loyalty towards your brand/product.

Once you have earned the consumer’s loyalty, he readily pays the price that you set for your product or service. The possibility that he might get a similar product somewhere else for a lower price won’t alter his decision then. For instance, an admirer of the brand Apple will always find the ways to buy its products. He won’t really mind the fact that Apple products will cost him way more than the non-Apple products. What makes him stick to Apple irrespective of the high prices? It is his trust that Apple has won and the association that they have always lived up to.

Becoming a brand generates a recall about you in the consumer’s mind. Meaning, the consumer remembersyou distinctly without mixing you up with the others from your segment. That can win quite an edge for you.

For example, let’s take an unorganized handicraft manufacturer on one hand and a brand like Fabindia on the other. Which one, out of these two, will you remember markedly? Which one do you recommend to others with confidence? It is clear that a brand enjoys more of your exclusive attention than a commodity.

So, is it actually the time for you to go for THE leap?

The switch from being a commodity to becoming a brand should be rightly timed. When you know that your product is well in alignment with your vision and it has that USP which makes it stand out distinctly in your segment; it is time for you to rise above the rest by becoming a brand and thereby becoming a trailblazer. Dare to dream bigger and bring in the change that sets you apart. Now THAT calls for a new and exciting endeavor, doesn’t it? Fix a rendez-vous with ENSO and we will be more than glad to assist you through the process of becoming a brand.

That’s the mantra that we have given to our clients and they seem to be thrilled with the results it has generated. After all, who likes to remain unnoticed or even half noticed for that matter? Why shouldn’t you turn your business in to something remarkable and project it as something worthy of a consumer’s loyal association? And, if you want to go for something as fine and ambitious as that, do you think the typical ways of advertising and marketing would do justice to your dreams? NO.

It is time you forget everything ordinary and ineffective. Choose to become a Brand instead, a sure shot to transform your business ambitions in to proud realities.

How does ENSO convert your business in to a BRAND?

Your journey from being ordinary to becoming extra ordinary will include four steps :

We chart out a campaign strategy on the basis of three things – your consumer’s expectation, your requirement about how you want to position yourself in the market and the frame of reference/point of difference by keeping your competitors in mind.

Based on this and the brand analysis that we did in the first phase, a long term plan is devised to develop a successful brand and to achieve specific goals. This campaign strategy will be executed through this sequence – awareness > alignment > engagement > action.

STEP 3 : BRAND STANDARDS, LAUNCHING AND MARKETING

Brand standards are basically a set of guidelines to help your company and affiliates communicate the look, feel and representation of your organization to your target consumer in a consistent fashion. They generally include all-inclusive brand description, logo usage & requirements, graphics elements, color scheme, typography, tone and copy. We establish the brand standards for you so that a steady brand identity can be generated for your organization.

Once the brand standards are established, we head towards crafting a perfect brand launch for you. A brand launch revolves around creating the right first impression as your consumers will start forming an opinion of your company from the time they first engage themselves with your brand. A brand launch timeline will generally include these processes : discovering > developing > deploying > maintaining.

Then comes brand marketing. It will involve communicating what the company does, how well it does it and providing a way to bring that information to the consumer’s mind in an instant. This could be done through anything – like, the logo, website, tagline etc.

STEP 4 : BRAND IMMERSING

This is the stage where you get ready to win your consumers by offering them an enhanced brand experience by the unified communication at various touch points. Fix an appointment with Ms. Neeja Shah to know more about this master plan!

Detailed, Dedicated and Determined – that is ENSO for you.

As you must have noticed, taking short cuts and finishing things just for the heck of finishing is not our way of working. And, we take pride in it not being our way of functioning. If it is about something as vital as turning a business in to a BRAND, it better be done with flair of a perfectionist, we assert.